|
Showa Sekkei completes radical rebuild to bring hospital up to date
Uwajima City Hospital is situated in Uwajima City, which is the largest city in the southern part of Ehime Prefecture. Since opening in 1910, the hospital has continued to serve the role of this region’s core hospital. A complete on-site reconstruction of the hospital was planned in tandem with the hospital celebrating its 100th anniversary.
The region surrounding the site is lined with low-rise residences. In view of ensuring that the building blends in with this streetscape, the key point of the architectural plan was to minimise the sense of volume of the building. To that end, the floor plan of the hospital ward portion was designed in a Z-shape and the continuous large and long exterior wall surface was bent to accent the shape of the building. Furthermore, the exterior wall was formed with a stripe design that combines curtain walls and tiles or aluminium panels to give rhythm to the wall surface and thereby minimise the sense of volume of the walls. Moreover, three types of stripes of varying widths are arranged in a reverse perspective to create optical illusions and thereby make the sense of volume of the building increasingly vague.
The architectural plan was dotted with elements associated with Uwajima throughout, including hospital rooms overlooking the streets that can be viewed through windows from beds while in a lying position, rooftop garden modelled after the streets and signs that incorporate streetscape photos and colours. These have been devised so that patients spending time in the hospital can feel the life of the streets that are familiar to them in an aim to make the hospital one that is close to and advances together with local residents.
|
